Lord of the Rings films. Theatrical or Extended Edition

[mswood]

One major negative issues with the EE that I didn't mention is how scenes that got cut into sections (with material added between) killed the original score. While I applaud the producers in having Shore record new material (and bridging material), the bridging material is often nowhere near the quality of the original composition.

I'd have to disagree with that. Listening to the Complete Recordings, which are based on the EEs, I think whatever missteps might occur are thoroughly outweighed by the benefits. Shore's additions for the EEs are as organic and as compelling as the original scores.

Sorry but I really disagree, I mean it isn't bad work, but some pieces are really ruined. I do love the complete recordings (As it gives us so much more of the score), but the bridging material (not the material for full new scenes, that I love) doesn't maintain the flow of the music (as well as the theatrical).

 

[Michael Chris]

I think the EEs were better, but I definitely prefer the theatrical. Not enough to watch the EEs.

 

[Kegg]

When watching the trilogy I tend to prefer the extended versions, but when doing so I also treat them as six films (half a film a day, based on where the break is.)

I do have problems with them (chiefly how the Mouth of Sauron scene ends and the extra stuff with the ghosts, particularly that nonsensical skull mountain), but overall I think the extended versions are better.

 

[BigFoot]

I prefer the Extended cuts of all three movies. And yeah, I'm sure The Hobbit will have an EE as well.

 

[Neroon]

I definitely prefer the EE's for all three chapters, but then I tend to view them all as one film stretched out over a period of time. However, I still own copies of the theatrical versions to satisfy the completist in me.

 

[ParticleMan]

As others have already said, I love the EEs, but I thoroughly dislike the changes to the introduction of the hobbits and the Shire from FOTR. To me, it is much more of an emotional thing...I can still remember watching that whole sequence, right up to Gandalf's cart rounding the hill to Bag End and thinking "Holy Crap. They got this right!" after wondering if the films would pass muster...

So when that opening is changed, it kind of kills that emotional memory of the wonder of it all that I experienced on opening night in 2001...

 

[Hyperspace05]

As others have already said, I love the EEs, but I thoroughly dislike the changes to the introduction of the hobbits and the Shire from FOTR. To me, it is much more of an emotional thing...I can still remember watching that whole sequence, right up to Gandalf's cart rounding the hill to Bag End and thinking "Holy Crap. They got this right!" after wondering if the films would pass muster...

So when that opening is changed, it kind of kills that emotional memory of the wonder of it all that I experienced on opening night in 2001...

Yep! I agree 100%... The altered opening is what kills the FOTR EE for me. To ruin that great Hobbiton reveal should be a crime.

 

[Neroon]

That scene doesn't bother me at all, though I do understand how you both feel. I liked the idea of introducing the world to the Hobbit life and their motivations for living the way they do.

As for one of the EE additions which I completely dislike, in ROTK:EE I don't care at all for when Aragorn confronts the Corsairs of Umbar... with the materialized charge of the King of the Dead. He says "this army" and out they come, terrorizing the pirate crew. The scene itself is not so bad, but it completely mutes the reveal of the same company of the dead when they confront the Orcs in Minas Tirith. The shot is essentially a repeated shot. Use one or the other but not both.

 

[Skywalker]

As for one of the EE additions which I completely dislike, in ROTK:EE I don't care at all for when Aragorn confronts the Corsairs of Umbar... with the materialized charge of the King of the Dead. He says "this army" and out they come, terrorizing the pirate crew. The scene itself is not so bad, but it completely mutes the reveal of the same company of the dead when they confront the Orcs in Minas Tirith. The shot is essentially a repeated shot. Use one or the other but not both.

Completely agreed. I wish the ROTK EE had kept that portion of Aragorn's storyline the way it was in the TE. We obviously knew Aragorn was going to show up and save the day, but it's far more dramatic if you leave the Paths of the Dead on "What say you?" and then we don't see any of them again until the Corsair ships show up at Minas Tirith.

That, plus the avalanche of skulls was just terrible. I don't know what the heck they were thinking on that one.

 

[DigificWriter]

I own both versions, but rarely watch the theatrical cuts since the extended cuts are, as has been said, pretty much the definitive versions of each film.

That said, though, I have to join the others who are saying that there are certain things about the extended cuts that might not have been wholly necessary additions. For me, it's the 'Mouth of Sauron' sequence from Return of the King; it really serves no purpose in the overall story, and, in fact, botches the narrative since, as the writers and co. point out themselves, the entire time that the Mouth of Sauron is telling Gandalf and Co. one thing, we as an audience know that the things that are being said are completely false.

 

[Neroon]

Tue Mouth of Sauron was genuinely creepy and the scene effective to me. It seemed to be played more for the reaction of Frodo's alleged death on the characters in the film, as opposed to being an attempt at effect upon the audience.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ I know how the scene was meant to be played, but, personally, I don't think it works in either context. That said, though, I do like the look of the Mouth of Sauron as designed by the folks at WETA, particularly the fact that the character was meant to be blind.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

It's more a problem of presenting the film in "real time" as opposed to how the books were presented (showing one storyline, then going back and showing another). The Mouth Of Sauron scene just doesn't work as it should when we *know* through what's presented on screen that Frodo is alive and well. I'm glad the EEs included the scene, to be as true to the books as possible, but there's no way that the scene carries the same dramatic weight in the film as it does in the novel.

 

[Honorable Ensign]

Hmm. If given the option, I'll always choose the EEs, because I like some of the additions! Some of them, I agree, are unnecessary and bother me in some way or another.

FotR, however, has no additions I dislike, so I feel it's the best of the EEs.

 

[JediKnightButler]

FOTR: Either version works for me. The EE has some nice "finishing touches", particularly the "Concerning Hobbits" addition but both versions are well done and I usually enjoy either one. I don't think that they really added a whole lot to this one- at least not as much as to ROTK.

TTT: Both versions are good but the EE is marginally better, particularly the scene where we see what happens to the remnants of the Orc army that were chased off by Gandalf at the conclusion of the battle of Helms Deep. The EE seemed to have a better flow to it than the theatrical edition in general IMHO.

ROTK: The theatrical version SUCKED!!!!! The EE is just about the only way I can tolerate watching this one. I was SO disappointed in the editing of the theatrical cut when I first saw it but the EE was MUCH better and IMHO the only "true" version of the movie. I don't know what PJ was thinking (if he even was) when he released the theatrical edition as it is.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Wow, it's weird seeing this old thread popping up again.

Like I said before, I love all three Extended Editions. There is no other version.

There are a few additions and/or cuts I don't like, but Kegg has covered the one I don't like the most: the beheading of the Mouth of Sauron. That scene is one of my favorites from the novel and I'm bugged every time I see Aragorn behead him. Bah.

I definitely prefer the EE's for all three chapters, but then I tend to view them all as one film stretched out over a period of time. However, I still own copies of the theatrical versions to satisfy the completist in me.

I'm usually a huge completist, but not in this case simply because the theatrical cuts don't even exist in my mind anymore.

 

[Skywalker]

ROTK: The theatrical version SUCKED!!!!! The EE is just about the only way I can tolerate watching this one. I was SO disappointed in the editing of the theatrical cut when I first saw it but the EE was MUCH better and IMHO the only "true" version of the movie. I don't know what PJ was thinking (if he even was) when he released the theatrical edition as it is.

Agreed. It's criminal that ROTK won Best Picture when FOTR was the film that truly deserved it. I know the 2004 Oscars was more of a "reward the trilogy as a whole" thing, but I hate that sort of crap, and it's really unfair to FOTR.

 

[Starbreaker]

ROTK: The theatrical version SUCKED!!!!! The EE is just about the only way I can tolerate watching this one. I was SO disappointed in the editing of the theatrical cut when I first saw it but the EE was MUCH better and IMHO the only "true" version of the movie. I don't know what PJ was thinking (if he even was) when he released the theatrical edition as it is.

The film was 3.5 hours as it was... the studio would have never gone for a 4 hour film.

 

[Neroon]

I'm usually a huge completist, but not in this case simply because the theatrical cuts don't even exist in my mind anymore.

Well, I do admit that those DVD's do contain different extras from the EE sets, so that has influence.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I'm surprised I hadn't seen this thread.


For me, I loved the theatrical edition of Fellowship of the Ring - it was perfectly paced and told you everything you needed to know. That said, the extended edition, while adding some scenes that I wouldn't really have missed in the theatrical version, does add some nicer flavour to proceedings, and in particular the whole first act in the Shire benefits greatly from it - the "Concerning Hobbits" scene is one of my favourite moments in that version. Still, I do prefer the extended edition in that respect, but only just.

The Two Towers I felt did benefit greatly from the extended scenes, elaborating more on almost all aspects of the film, although some scenes again felt extraneous at times, but I got the feeling that this was the version Jackson, Walsh, Boyens and Sinclair wanted us to see all along. This feeling is even more so with Return of the King, whose theatrical version felt (despite its long running time) to be only about 80% of a movie, and the extended edition adds whole segments that add new meaning to the existing movie and even portrays things in a different context (such as the whole of the battle of Minas Tirith) - perhaps the Mouth of Sauron scene was the only really extraneous segment of the film, and the fun (and seemingly self-indulgent) pirates scene did steal some of the surprise from Aragorn's reappearance in film's main set-piece for the uninitiated, but on the other hand would have explained a whole lot more than what we got in the theatrical version.

So, overall, it's the extended editions that do it for me every time, and not just because of the immense extras and four commentary tracks. The result is that that very long and winding ending of the whole saga no longer felt as long as it actually was.